Washington DC, 16th April 2008 (CNA) - Speaking to all 350 bishops of the
United States in Washington D.C. this evening, Benedict XVI challenged the
Church leaders to bring the message of hope in Christ to the country by
“clearing away some of the barriers” to “an encounter with the living God".
Among the barriers he mentioned are the view that faith can be separated
from public actions, materialism and individualism.
The discourse to the assembled Bishops of the United States by Benedict XVI
focused on their duty to “sow the seeds of the Gospel”. The Pope elaborated
on this by asking, “how, in the twenty-first century, a bishop can best
fulfill the call to "make all things new in Christ, our hope"? How can he
lead his people to "an encounter with the living God", the source of that
life-transforming hope of which the Gospel speaks? Perhaps he needs to begin
by clearing away some of the barriers to such an encounter.”
One of the main barriers that prevents this seed from being planted, is the
influence of secularism: a worldview that divides one’s faith from their
public actions. This leads to attitudes where “practicing Catholics to
ignore or exploit the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior
contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict
the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death”.
The Holy Father then emphasized that, “Any tendency to treat religion as a
private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every
aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming
power of the Gospel.”
Another way that the churchmen should strive to prevent the division of
faith from life in the culture is by strengthening marriage.
The Pope told the bishops that their task is to boldly proclaim “the
arguments from faith and reason in favor of the institution of marriage,
understood as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, open to the
transmission of life. This message should resonate with people today,
because it is essentially an unconditional and unreserved "yes" to life, a
"yes" to love, and a "yes" to the aspirations at the heart of our common
humanity, as we strive to fulfill our deep yearning for intimacy with others
and with the Lord.”
The Pope also tackled the problem of sexual abuse.
First, he said, the bishops must become vocal advocates for bringing the
truth about sexuality to the modern culture through modern mass
communication. By way of a solution, the Pontiff called on the bishops to
reinvigorate their priests and faithful with their own example of prayer.
Time spent in prayer is never wasted, however urgent the duties that press
upon us from every side, Pope Benedict said.
